45 cafés in 7 citys. Places change: check opening hours before you go.
After 128 years in the Block Arcade, the Hopetoun Tea Rooms business left in 2020 and reopened in a heritage bluestone former bank on Bourke Street, bringing its cake display and tea sets along. It sits in a building that housed the Commercial Bank of Australia from the 1880s.
Order: Afternoon tea · Cakes from the display
💡 The bake shop at 22 McKillop Street around the corner sells take-away pastries and teas.
Brothers Leo and Vildo Pellegrini opened this bar in 1954, and it was among the first places in Melbourne with a real Italian espresso machine. Sisto Malaspina and Nino Pangrazio ran it from 1974, and the mirrored walls, red stools, marble counter and 1958 neon sign are still there; the Malaspina family runs it today.
Order: Short black at the counter · Spaghetti from the kitchen behind the bar · Granita
💡 Sit at the long marble counter rather than a table; it is closed on Sundays.
Tea rooms opened in the Block Arcade in 1892, run by the Victorian Ladies' Work Association to help the 'educated poor', and later named after their patron Lady Hopetoun. The original arcade rooms, with green printed wallpaper and a window full of cakes, now trade as The Tea Rooms 1892.
Order: Afternoon tea · A slice from the cake window · Pot of tea
💡 Walk through the Block Arcade's mosaic floors on the way in; weekday mornings are quietest.
Former boxer Luigi Coluzzi and his wife Eleni opened Bar Coluzzi in 1957 and helped introduce Sydney to espresso; it moved to Victoria Street in 1970. Crowds spilling onto the footpath helped push Sydney to legalise outdoor coffee drinking.
Order: Espresso · Macchiato
💡 Sit on the little stools on the footpath, as regulars have for decades.
A 22-year-old Bill Granger opened bills here in 1993; his scrambled eggs, ricotta hotcakes and avocado on toast at a big communal table helped define the Australian brunch. Granger died in 2023, and the original café still serves breakfast and lunch.
Order: Scrambled eggs · Ricotta hotcakes · Flat white
💡 Expect a queue on weekends; weekday mornings are calmer.
Lucia and Pasquale opened this bar in the Adelaide Central Market in 1957, and the family has served espresso and Italian food to generations of market shoppers since.
Order: Espresso · Spaghetti · Pizza slice
💡 Go on a market day; the market is closed Sunday and Monday.
Brunetti opened in Faraday Street, Carlton in 1985 as a Roman-style pasticceria and moved to its big Lygon Court home in 2013. Long glass counters of cannoli, sfogliatelle and cakes run the length of the room.
Order: Espresso at the bar · Cannoli · Sfogliatelle
💡 Order at the coffee bar and eat standing up, Italian-style, to skip the table queue; weekend surcharges apply.
Two Italian-Australian waiters, Mario Maccarone and Mario De Pasquale, opened Marios in 1986 in what was then a run-down bohemian Fitzroy. It has served all-day breakfast, Italian food and coffee ever since, with local art on the walls since 1988.
Order: Espresso · All-day breakfast · Cotoletta
💡 A good base for exploring Brunswick Street's shops and bars.
A dark, wood-panelled Italian espresso bar that has been on Lygon Street since the late 1970s (sources give 1977 or 1978). It later grew into the shop next door and still serves coffee and plain pasta in worn booths.
Order: Espresso · Carbonara · Affogato
💡 Good for a cheap, unhurried bowl of pasta after coffee.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Opened in 1952, University Cafe was one of Melbourne's first espresso bars and one of the few survivors of Lygon Street's early Italian strip. A vintage Gaggia machine is still on display.
Order: Espresso · Tiramisu · Home-style pasta
💡 Pair it with a walk along Lygon Street, Melbourne's 'Little Italy'.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A city specialty café that ranked 37th on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list in 2025, the highest-placed in South Australia.
Order: Espresso · Filter
💡 Check the exact address and hours before visiting.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Founded in 2007, Blackstar was one of the first to build Brisbane's local roasting and barista culture, and its café reflects West End's mix of cultures and vintage shops.
Order: Revolution espresso blend · Filter
💡 Explore West End's Boundary Street afterwards.
A small CBD café that rotates beans from guest roasters around the world. It ranked 8th on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops in 2025 and 29th in 2026.
Order: Guest-roaster filter · Espresso
💡 Weekday hours suit office workers; check before a weekend visit.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Fonzie Abbott's flagship and headquarters is a full restaurant with seats for over 100 alongside its roasting. It ranked 70th on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops in 2025.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Breakfast
💡 Opens at 5:30am on weekdays.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Single O's Brisbane café, from the Sydney roaster that helped start Australia's specialty scene.
Order: Batch brew · Espresso
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Former Olympic handball player Saša Šestić founded ONA in his Canberra garage in 2008 and won the World Barista Championship in 2015. The Fyshwick coffee house is the company's Canberra flagship.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Brunch
💡 Fyshwick is a short drive from the centre; go by car or taxi.
ONA's city café near the Australian National University, where the roaster's competition and rare coffees are often on offer.
Order: Filter flight · Espresso
💡 Close to the ANU campus and Civic.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A Hobart café and specialty roaster, a long-standing stop for serious coffee in the city centre.
Order: Espresso · Beans to take home
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Proud Mary's sister venue is a small, bare-concrete brew bar with about fifteen seats that serves only black coffee: pour-over and no milk drinks.
Order: Pour-over · Coffee beans to take home
💡 Don't ask for a flat white here; it is black coffee only.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Axil is an independent Melbourne roaster based in Hawthorn, with baristas who compete at national level; its Hawthorn café is the brand's home ground.
Order: Espresso · Filter
💡 Check the website for current café addresses before you go.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A tiny city coffee bar from the Seven Seeds team, named after Baba Budan, the merchant said to have smuggled seven coffee seeds out of Yemen. It is one of the busiest small espresso bars in the CBD.
Order: Seven Seeds espresso · Filter · Toastie
💡 Expect to stand or squeeze in; it opens every day at 7am.
A tiny Gertrude Street counter run by Alicia Feng where coffee is the main event, with espresso and filter from Ona beans and a few pastries. It ranked 28th on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops in 2025.
Order: Filter · Espresso
💡 Small and seating is limited; go early.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Code Black's Brunswick headquarters is a big, dark warehouse café with the roaster on site, and the brand has since opened more cafés around the city.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Brunch
💡 Combine with a walk down Sydney Road.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A single Flinders Lane café for a roaster that buys only certified organic and regenerative organic coffee, brewed with care for the city's lunchtime crowd.
Order: Espresso · Batch brew
💡 Closed Sundays; combine with a walk through Degraves Street and Centre Place nearby.
Brothers Trevor and Steve Simmons started Industry Beans in 2010, and its Fitzroy café and roastery is the original. The brand has since spread to Sydney and Brisbane.
Order: Seasonal espresso special · Filter · Brunch
💡 Order through their app to skip the counter on busy mornings.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A Market Lane café in an old terrace just off Lygon Street, focused on filter and single-origin coffee and mostly take-away.
Order: Filter · Single-origin espresso
💡 Easy to combine with Lygon Street's old Italian cafés a minute away.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Market Lane, a Melbourne roaster known for seasonal, lightly roasted single origins, runs both a café and a stall inside Prahran Market. It has many sites today, including Carlton and the Queen Victoria Market.
Order: Seasonal filter · Espresso · Beans to take home
💡 Market days are Tuesday to Sunday; browse the produce halls with your coffee.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
The Melbourne flagship of ONA Coffee, the Canberra roaster founded by 2015 World Barista Champion Saša Šestić.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Frozen coffee
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A standing-room-only espresso bar on a laneway corner, open since 2011, where office workers order filter or white coffee and chat with baristas who know them by name. It now roasts its own coffee in Coburg North.
Order: Black or white espresso · Filter of the day
💡 Weekdays only, 7am to 4pm; there are no seats, so plan a quick stop.
Nolan and Shari Hirte founded Proud Mary in 2009, built around direct buying from farmers and experimental brewing. It ranked 4th on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops in 2025 and 27th in 2026.
Order: Rotating single-origin filter · Espresso flight · Brunch
💡 Weekends open at 8am; arrive early to avoid queues. Check the website for the exact current address.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
ST. ALi began in 2005 in this South Melbourne warehouse, one of the cafés that put Melbourne's specialty coffee and all-day brunch on the map. It is still the brand's home and general store.
Order: Espresso · Filter · All-day brunch
💡 Book a table on weekends; the kitchen closes at 3pm on weekdays.
Seven Seeds has roasted coffee in Melbourne since 2007, and this Carlton warehouse is its flagship, seating close to 100. It made the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list in 2025.
Order: Filter of the day · Single-origin espresso · All-day brunch
💡 Bring your own container to refill house blends.
A narrow Seven Seeds café in a laneway off Bourke Street, part Italian eatery and part Airstream caravan inside, with a bench along one wall and a couple of stools outside.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Toasted sandwich
💡 Closed Sundays; handy before a show at the nearby Princess or Comedy theatres.
Jimmy, Matt and Kael started roasting in 2016 and opened this first espresso bar in 2017; it made the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list in 2025 and 2026. Cafés in Cremorne and Richmond followed.
Order: Espresso · Medium-light filter
💡 Near Federation Square, so it fits a city walking day.
A small espresso bar tucked into Perth's State Buildings on St Georges Terrace. It now sources and roasts its own coffee at a shared roastery in East Victoria Park.
Order: Espresso · Filter
💡 The closest entrance is off Foundation Place.
A small specialty bar on Bourke Street that buys, roasts and brews its own coffee with a focus on letting each lot show its character.
Order: Filter · Espresso
💡 Tiny; treat it as a quick stop.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A Surry Hills café that offers more than 50 coffee lots a day, using automation and pre-batched house espresso so staff can spend more time with guests. It entered the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops at 13th in 2026.
Order: A rare lot from the menu · House espresso
💡 Close to Central Station.
The original home of Coffee Alchemy, a Sydney specialty roaster that now also runs cafés in New York and Singapore.
Order: Espresso · Beans to take home
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Coffee Alchemy's city espresso bar inside the Strand Arcade on George Street.
Order: Espresso · Filter
💡 Take your cup for a look along the arcade's upper galleries.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Mecca's café and roastery in Alexandria, where you can see where the coffee is roasted while you eat.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Brunch
💡 Bookings are taken; it is a short ride from the city.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
ONA's Sydney flagship, from the Canberra roaster founded by 2015 World Barista Champion Saša Šestić, with an espresso bar and brunch.
Order: Espresso · Frozen coffee · Brunch
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A minimalist espresso bar that pours rotating coffees from roasters such as Market Lane and Sey. It was ranked 4th in the world and best in Oceania on the 2026 World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list.
Order: Guest espresso · Filter
💡 Check the exact address on their social channels; there are also sites in Artarmon and North Sydney.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
A Surry Hills warehouse café whose owners travel to visit growers and roast batch by batch in Marrickville. The kitchen is known for Latin American-leaning brunch.
Order: Espresso · Filter · Brunch
💡 Walk-ins only, no bookings.
Single O's original café, which it calls 'the OG', helped shape Sydney's specialty scene and entered the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list in 2026. The brand now also runs cafés in Tokyo.
Order: Batch brew · Espresso · Brunch
💡 Small and busy; arrive before 9am for a seat.
Toby Smith started roasting in 1997 in his mother's garage in Woolloomooloo. The Chippendale flagship, with roastery and brew bar on site, was named the world's best coffee shop in 2025 and 5th in 2026.
Order: Single origin of the month · Filter · Frozen coffee
💡 Close to Victoria Park and the University of Sydney; seats fill quickly mid-morning.